Low-Altitude UAV-Carried Movable Antenna for Joint Wireless Power Transfer and Covert Communications

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) networks has created an urgent need for sustainable energy solutions, particularly for the battery-constrained spatially distributed IoT nodes. While low-altitude uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) employed with wireless power transfer (WPT) capabilities offer a promising solution, the line-of-sight channels that facilitate efficient energy delivery also expose sensitive operational data to adversaries. This paper proposes a novel low-altitude UAV-carried movable antenna-enhanced transmission system joint WPT and covert communications, which simultaneously performs energy supplements to IoT nodes and establishes transmission links with a covert user by leveraging wireless energy signals as a natural cover. Then, we formulate a multi-objective optimization problem that jointly maximizes the total harvested energy of IoT nodes and sum achievable rate of the covert user, while minimizing the propulsion energy consumption of the low-altitude UAV. To address the non-convex and temporally coupled optimization problem, we propose a mixture-of-experts-augmented soft actor-critic (MoE-SAC) algorithm that employs a sparse Top-K gated mixture-of-shallow-experts architecture to represent multimodal policy distributions arising from the conflicting optimization objectives. We also incorporate an action projection module that explicitly enforces per-time-slot power budget constraints and antenna position constraints. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach significantly outperforms some baseline approaches and other state-of-the-art deep reinforcement learning algorithms.

Wireless Sensing with Movable Intelligent Surface

Future wireless networks are envisioned to deliver not only gigabit communications but also ubiquitous sensing. Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have emerged to reshape radio propagation, recently showing considerable promise for wireless sensing. Still, their per-element electronic tuning incurs prohibitive hardware cost and power consumption. Motivated by the concept of fluid antenna system (FAS), this paper introduces a low-cost movable intelligent surface (MIS) for wireless sensing, which replaces element-wise electronic phase tuning with panel-wise mechanical reconfiguration. The MIS stacks a large fixed and a smaller movable pre-phased metasurface layers, whose differential position shifts synthesize distinct composite phase patterns, enabling multiple beam patterns for multi-target detection. We characterize a MIS-enabled multi-hop echo signal model with multi-target interference and then formulate a worst-case sensing signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) maximization problem that jointly designs MIS phase shifts and schedules MS2's position. A Riemannian Augmented Lagrangian Method (RALM)-based algorithm is developed to solve the formulated mixed-integer non-convex problem. We also derive a heuristic MIS beam steering design with closed-form phase distribution and position scheduling. Simulations validate MIS's beam pattern reconfiguration capability, show that the RALM-based scheme significantly outperforms the closed-form scheme in improving sensing SINR, and uncover a gain-diversity trade-off in beam patterns that informs the optimal choice of MIS configuration.

Hierarchical Federated Learning for Social Network with Mobility

Federated Learning (FL) offers a decentralized solution that allows collaborative local model training and global aggregation, thereby protecting data privacy. In conventional FL frameworks, data privacy is typically preserved under the assumption that local data remains absolutely private, whereas the mobility of clients is frequently neglected in explicit modeling. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical federated learning framework based on the social network with mobility namely HFL-SNM that considers both data sharing among clients and their mobility patterns. Under the constraints of limited resources, we formulate a joint optimization problem of resource allocation and client scheduling, which objective is to minimize the energy consumption of clients during the FL process. In social network, we introduce the concepts of Effective Data Coverage Rate and Redundant Data Coverage Rate. We analyze the impact of effective data and redundant data on the model performance through preliminary experiments. We decouple the optimization problem into multiple sub-problems, analyze them based on preliminary experimental results, and propose Dynamic Optimization in Social Network with Mobility (DO-SNM) algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm achieves superior model performance while significantly reducing energy consumption, compared to traditional baseline algorithms.

Low-Altitude UAV Tracking via Sensing-Assisted Predictive Beamforming

Sensing-assisted predictive beamforming, as one of the enabling technologies for emerging integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) paradigm, shows significant promise for enhancing various future unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. However, current works predominately emphasized on spectral efficiency enhancement, while the impact of such beamforming techniques on the communication reliability was largely unexplored and challenging to characterize. To fill this research gap and tackle this issue, this paper investigates outage capacity maximization for UAV tracking under the sensing-assisted predictive beamforming scheme. Specifically, a cellular-connected UAV tracking scheme is proposed leveraging extended Kalman filtering (EKF), where the predicted UAV trajectory, sensing duration ratio, and target constant received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are jointly optimized to maximize the outage capacity at each time slot. To address the implicit nature of the objective function, closed-form approximations of the outage probabilities (OPs) at both prediction and measurement stages of each time slot are proposed based on second-order Taylor expansions, providing an efficient and full characterization of outage capacity. Subsequently, an efficient algorithm is proposed based on a combination of bisection search and successive convex approximation (SCA) to address the non-convex optimization problem with guaranteed convergence. To further reduce computational complexity, a second efficient algorithm is developed based on alternating optimization (AO). Simulation results validate the accuracy of the derived OP approximations, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, and the significant outage capacity enhancement over various benchmarks, while also indicating a trade-off between decreasing path loss and enjoying wide beam coverage for outage capacity maximization.

Movable IRS-Aided ISAC Systems: Joint Beamforming and Position Optimization

Driven by intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) and movable antenna (MA) technologies, movable IRS (MIRS) has been proposed to improve the adaptability and performance of conventional IRS, enabling flexible adjustment of the IRS reflecting element positions. This paper investigates MIRS-aided integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems. The objective is to minimize the power required for satisfying the quality-of-service (QoS) of sensing and communication by jointly optimizing the MIRS element positions, IRS reflection coefficients, transmit beamforming, and receive filters. To balance the performance-cost trade-off, we proposed two MIRS schemes: element-wise control and array-wise control, where the positions of individual reflecting elements and arrays consisting of multiple elements are controllable, respectively. To address the joint beamforming and position optimization, a product Riemannian manifold optimization (PRMO) method is proposed, where the variables are updated over a constructed product Riemannian manifold space (PRMS) in parallel via penalty-based transformation and Riemannian Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (RBFGS) algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed MIRS outperforms conventional IRS in power minimization with both element-wise control and array-wise control. Specifically, with different system parameters, the minimum power is achieved by the MIRS with the element-wise control scheme, while suboptimal solution and higher computational efficiency are achieved by the MIRS with array-wise control scheme.

Stacked Intelligent Metasurface Assisted Multiuser Communications: From a Rate Fairness Perspective

Stacked intelligent metasurface (SIM) extends the concept of single-layer reconfigurable holographic surfaces (RHS) by incorporating a multi-layered structure, thereby providing enhanced control over electromagnetic wave propagation and improved signal processing capabilities. This study investigates the potential of SIM in enhancing the rate fairness in multiuser downlink systems by addressing two key optimization problems: maximizing the minimum rate (MR) and maximizing the geometric mean of rates (GMR). {The former strives to enhance the minimum user rate, thereby ensuring fairness among users, while the latter relaxes fairness requirements to strike a better trade-off between user fairness and system sum-rate (SR).} For the MR maximization, we adopt a consensus alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM)-based approach, which decomposes the approximated problem into sub-problems with closed-form solutions. {For GMR maximization, we develop an alternating optimization (AO)-based algorithm that also yields closed-form solutions and can be seamlessly adapted for SR maximization. Numerical results validate the effectiveness and convergence of the proposed algorithms.} Comparative evaluations show that MR maximization ensures near-perfect fairness, while GMR maximization balances fairness and system SR. Furthermore, the two proposed algorithms respectively outperform existing related works in terms of MR and SR performance. Lastly, SIM with lower power consumption achieves performance comparable to that of multi-antenna digital beamforming.

Integrating Movable Antennas and Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (MA-IRS): Fundamentals, Practical Solutions, and Opportunities

Movable antennas (MAs) and intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) enable active antenna repositioning and passive phase-shift tuning for channel reconfiguration, respectively. Integrating MAs and IRSs boosts spatial degrees of freedom, significantly enhancing wireless network capacity, coverage, and reliability. In this article, we first present the fundamentals of MA-IRS integration, involving clarifying the key design issues, revealing performance gain, and identifying the conditions where MA-IRS synergy persists. Then, we examine practical challenges and propose pragmatic design solutions, including optimization schemes, hardware architectures, deployment strategies, and robust designs for hardware impairments and mobility management. In addition, we highlight how MA-IRS architectures uniquely support advanced integrated sensing and communication, enhancing sensing performance and dual-functional flexibility. Overall, MA-IRS integration emerges as a compelling approach toward next-generation reconfigurable wireless systems.

Intelligent Metasurface-Enabled Integrated Sensing and Communication: Unified Framework and Key Technologies

As the demand for ubiquitous connectivity and high-precision environmental awareness grows, integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) has emerged as a key technology for sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks. Intelligent metasurfaces (IMs) have also been widely adopted in ISAC scenarios due to their efficient, programmable control over electromagnetic waves. This provides a versatile solution that meets the dual-function requirements of next-generation networks. Although reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have been extensively studied for manipulating the propagation channel between base and mobile stations, the full potential of IMs in ISAC transceiver design remains under-explored. Against this backdrop, this article explores emerging IM-enabled transceiver designs for ISAC systems. It begins with an overview of representative IM architectures, their unique principles, and their inherent advantages in EM wave manipulation. Next, a unified ISAC framework is established to systematically model the design and derivation of diverse IM-enabled transceiver structures. This lays the foundation for performance optimization, trade-offs, and analysis. The paper then discusses several critical technologies for IM-enabled ISAC transceivers, including dedicated channel modeling, effective channel estimation, tailored beamforming strategies, and dual-functional waveform design.

A Tutorial on Movable Antennas for Wireless Networks

Movable antenna (MA) has been recognized as a promising technology to enhance the performance of wireless communication and sensing by enabling antenna movement. Such a significant paradigm shift from conventional fixed antennas (FAs) to MAs offers tremendous new opportunities towards realizing more versatile, adaptive and efficient next-generation wireless networks such as 6G. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive tutorial on the fundamentals and advancements in the area of MA-empowered wireless networks. First, we overview the historical development and contemporary applications of MA technologies. Next, to characterize the continuous variation in wireless channels with respect to antenna position and/or orientation, we present new field-response channel models tailored for MAs, which are applicable to narrowband and wideband systems as well as far-field and near-field propagation conditions. Subsequently, we review the state-of-the-art architectures for implementing MAs and discuss their practical constraints. A general optimization framework is then formulated to fully exploit the spatial degrees of freedom (DoFs) in antenna movement for performance enhancement in wireless systems. In particular, we delve into two major design issues for MA systems. First, we address the intricate antenna movement optimization problem for various communication and/or sensing systems to maximize the performance gains achievable by MAs. Second, we deal with the challenging channel acquisition issue in MA systems for reconstructing the channel mapping between arbitrary antenna positions inside the transmitter and receiver regions. Moreover, we show existing prototypes developed for MA-aided communication/sensing and the experimental results based on them. Finally, the extension of MA design to other wireless systems and its synergy with other emerging wireless technologies are discussed.

Joint Size and Placement Optimization for IRS-Aided Communications with Active and Passive Elements

Different types of intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) are exploited for assisting wireless communications. The joint use of passive IRS (PIRS) and active IRS (AIRS) emerges as a promising solution owing to their complementary advantages. They can be integrated into a single hybrid active-passive IRS (HIRS) or deployed in a distributed manner, which poses challenges in determining the IRS element allocation and placement for rate maximization. In this paper, we investigate the capacity of an IRS-aided wireless communication system with both active and passive elements. Specifically, we consider three deployment schemes: 1) base station (BS)-HIRS-user (BHU); 2) BS-AIRS-PIRS-user (BAPU); 3) BS-PIRS-AIRS-user (BPAU). Under the line-of-sight channel model, we formulate a rate maximization problem via a joint optimization of the IRS element allocation and placement. We first derive the optimized number of active and passive elements for BHU, BAPU, and BPAU schemes, respectively. Then, low-complexity HIRS/AIRS placement strategies are provided. To obtain more insights, we characterize the system capacity scaling orders for the three schemes with respect to the large total number of IRS elements, amplification power budget, and BS transmit power. Finally, simulation results are presented to validate our theoretical findings and show the performance difference among the BHU, BAPU, and BPAU schemes with the proposed joint design under various system setups.